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June 18, 2016 (edited)
10,000 Maniacs, from nearby Jamestown opened. They were past their critical peak but at the height of their fame. The show was during the hot middle-89 period that also featured the Shoreline and Alpine Valley shows. It's the day after the Patriots Stadium show [the hot FotD and others] and the show before the Philly show [
Crimson White & Indigo]. It about fits in with the quality of those, and the era, but has always had a bigger reputation.
First Set. The whole set is above-average right out of the box. It's mostly a Brent show with fewer fireworks from Jer - as you can tell on a technically perfect
Cold Rain & Snow. Though Jer is great on slide for
Walkin' Blues and on a near-perfect
Row Jimmy. Bobby stretches to his limits for
Masterpiece, yet without shouting.
Stagger Lee is just a bit draggy.
LLR again shows how Bobby and Brent are having a great show; Jer going off at set cap, on
Deal.
Second Set. Also consistently above average, with Jer right on top of it when they get to
Ship of Fools. Dewiminna is on
Weir Here but with weird edits. The 1st measure of the intro is patched from 8/17/89 Greek; the 2nd verse (Little boy sit) is cut and, instead of being after the 2nd verse, the 2nd solo is moved behind the 3rd verse (Ever since the world began), replacing the 3rd solo, but the last 5 of Jer's 9 measures are edited out. On the outro, 2 of the vocal rounds are removed. WTF? That's the WEIRdest edit in the catalog (
i.e. to put focus on Weir and make him look better, one presumes).
Playin' is the reprise from the Patriots Stadium show. The end of the set is the day's best sequence.
All Along the Watchtower is a very good (but not best of '89) example. 89/90 yielded a surplus of top
Dews, including this one.
1st Set: B+
2nd Set: B-
Overall = 4 Stars
Highlights:
Cold Rain & Snow - not flashy but very well-played
When I Paint My Masterpiece - Bobby sings it (and plays it) well enough to stand out
Looks Like Rain - Bobby on a good show
Deal - The standard showstopper played with skittering leads
All Along the Watchtower - notably tight
Morning Dew - Middle of hot sequence
Not Fade Away - Peak energy
SOURCES: Hinko SBD, and
Truckin Up to Buffalo have the whole show. (The "matrix" seems to actually be an AUD).
Watchtower is on
Postcards and
Man Smart (woman smarter) is on
Weir Here, albeit bizarrely edited (see above).
mzlizizaninja - there's no skipping - it's yr computer, that you gave one star. Toggle the lightning bolt to parse the code differently, or get a better soundcard or something.